1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleaner such as a hard floor cleaning unit for use in wet or dry cleaning modes. In particular, the present application pertains to such a hard floor cleaning unit having a nozzle assembly that is raised off the floor for use in the dry cleaning mode and lowered on the floor for use in the wet cleaning mode.
2. Background Information
It is known in the prior art to provide a hard or bare floor cleaning unit. Such floors are of a relatively unyielding and nonabsorbent nature. Some examples of these floors include ceramic tile, sealed hardwood, concrete, and vinyl. For these floors, it is often desirable to have a multipurpose cleaning unit which can be selected and used to dry vacuum the floor to pick up dirt and dust, or wet vacuum the floor by scrubbing the floor with cleaning solution and then collecting and picking it up. Also, it is desirable to first dry vacuum the floor with the nozzle assembly raised and then lower it to wet vacuum the floor. Dry vacuuming with the nozzle assembly raised picks up the large particles in order to provide a cleaner surface for wet vacuuming, thereby avoiding spreading or scrubbing the loose dirt on the floor by the squeegee or brushes. Moreover, this method minimizes the amount of dirt or hair that collects on the brushes.
Hence, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hard floor cleaning unit that can be conveniently selected to dry vacuum the floor with the nozzle assembly raised or wet vacuum the floor with the nozzle assembly lowered to collect and pick up dirt from the floor mixed with cleaning solution distributed on the floor by the cleaning unit.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of cleaning a hard floor surface by first dry vacuuming the floor using a cleaning unit in which the nozzle assembly is raised to pick up large particles and then wet vacuuming the floor with the nozzle assembly lowered to collect and pick up dirt from the floor mixed with cleaning solution distributed on the floor by the cleaning unit.